Robinson has Rattlers poised and ready to strike again

There were times when 17,851 people, decked out in orange and green, dancing, singing and cheering on their Rattlers, sounded much louder than is possible for mere humans. This was a football game.

But it had to be more than just a football game after all that has happened since last November, when drum major Robert Champion was killed in a hazing incident aboard a band bus.

The famed Marching 100, suspended indefinitely, was absent, of course. The band director retired. The president resigned. Investigations and lawsuits, acrimony and anger, harsh words and bitterness have all replaced the joy and simplicity of life on a beloved university campus.

It must not have been easy being a student at Florida A&M University in the days following young Mr. Champion’s death, and being a college student is, as our parents always said, supposed to be the best time of your life.

For Florida A&M University, these last 10 months have been anything but. Even on Saturday, the national media were there for the game to document the return of the football team to the home field. The New York Times called it football “without a soundtrack” without the Marching 100.

But I saw and heard something different — so much more than a football game. I saw what might very well be the return of normalcy, and it came at halftime in what would prove to be a blowout victory in more ways than one for FAMU.

Interim President Larry Robinson, accompanied by the famed voice of the Marching 100, popular DJ Joe Bullard, strode to midfield at halftime. Taking the microphone, Robinson, an unassuming academic, called for a moment of silence for the victims of “hazing and bullying everywhere.” He then recited the “Rattler Charge.”

When the dark clouds gather on the horizon,

When thunder and lightning fill the sky,

When fate is but a glint in the eye of a fallen Rattler,

And hopes are lost friends,

When the sinew of the chest grows weary,

From those hard charging line backers,

And the muscles and the legs grow tired,

From those hard charging running backs.

You must always remember that the

RATTLERS WILL STRIKE, AND STRIKE AND STRIKE AGAIN!

The crowd responded with a huge ovation, reciting the words along with him, many standing and applauding, many doing the Rattler Strike motion, all buzzing a buzz that would not quit throughout the rest of the game.

But it wasn’t simply the applause or the unique display of leadership that caught my attention, one among the 17,851 cheering this man. I viewed it as a signal. FAMU had symbolically turned a corner, showing that it does not have to give in. It can and has done the right thing in making real its policy of no tolerance for hazing. It can bring back the band when the right structure is in place to prevent a return to business as normal on hazing.

The popular belief was that the stadium would be empty without the Marching 100. It wasn’t. In fact, thanks to a strong showing of support from all walks of the Tallahassee community, Sharon P. Saunders, FAMU’s chief communications officer and executive assistant to the president for communications, told me on Friday that ticket sales were on par with last year.

More to the point, Robinson is pushing the right buttons and doing the right things to make change without making change be about bringing attention to himself. He is at a minimum the right man at this crucial period of transition. This is not based on a single night, but symbolized by a night of success, a night when Rattlers everywhere stood tall and proud, a night when it was fun again on the FAMU campus.

When Robinson was announced as interim, the Board of Trustees said he would not be a candidate for the permanent job. It might just want to rethink that. The atmosphere at the university is already more relaxed, as many have noted, and there is little question that Robinson is why.

Is he the right person for the job? That’s a definite maybe. But either way, if his start is any indication, the FAMU the new president will inherit from Robinson will be better positioned to achieve greatness and move into a new era of sustained success.

The dark clouds that had gathered on the horizon are not too distant, yet. But under Robinson’s leadership, the Rattlers are ready to strike and strike again.

You can send comments by clicking on Bob Gabordi’s blog on Tallahassee.com, e-mailing him at bgabordi@tallahassee.com, sending a private message on Tallahassee.com and Twitter @bgabordi. You can also find links to his blogs on Facebook. His mailing address is Bob Gabordi, Executive Editor, Tallahassee Democrat, P.O. Box 990, Tallahassee, FL 32302. His telephone number is 850-599-2177.

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You can send comments by clicking on Bob Gabordi’s blog on Tallahassee.com or Move.Tallahassee.com, e-mailing him at bgabordi@tallahassee.com, sending a private message on Tallahassee.com and Twitter @bgabordi. You can also find links to his blogs on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. His mailing address is Bob Gabordi, Executive Editor, Tallahassee Democrat, P.O. Box 990, Tallahassee, FL 32302. His telephone number is 850-599-2177.